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Cycling Question

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Sorry if this is not the correct place to post this.

I have a 16 gallon cycling currently. A few days ago, I added the gravel, decor/plants and water. I also put in water conditioner, the recommended amount of Safe Start, an algae wafer and a gallon of vacuumed out water from my other tank. This morning, a few days after starting this aquarium, I turned on the aquarium's light and I saw that the water is cloudy. I read that this sort of thing is "normal" and "good," that it's bacteria that is growing and will filter out in a few days turning my tank's water clear again. I read that that would be the "end of the cycle" once the water's levels read correctly and the water is clear again. Is this true, or is it just because of the algae wafer dissolving? I have no fish in there yet, so don't panic if the problem could kill my fish. If it is caused by the algae wafer, will this cloudy-ness filter out or will I have to do some water changes?

If your trying to do a fishless cycle, then you would really need a better source of ammonia

There is a link below in my sig to a thread here that explains one way of how to complete a fishless cycle, which is about the easiest way that I have found

If you take your time to do the research FIRST, you can successfully set-up and keep ANY type of aquarium with ease."Not using a quarantine tank is like playing Russian roulette. Nobody wins the game, some people just get to play longer than others." - Anthony CalfoFishless CycleCycling with FishMarine Aquarium Info [URL="http://saltwater.aquaticcommunity.com/"]

Most likely due to bacteria, but I'm not completely sure that one single wafer could cause that in 16 gallons of water.

But either way, that alone will not cycle your tank

If you take your time to do the research FIRST, you can successfully set-up and keep ANY type of aquarium with ease."Not using a quarantine tank is like playing Russian roulette. Nobody wins the game, some people just get to play longer than others." - Anthony CalfoFishless CycleCycling with FishMarine Aquarium Info [URL="http://saltwater.aquaticcommunity.com/"]

To the cloudiness question, yes, this is due to bacteria. Not from the algae wafer alone (those this does contribute), but just normal in any new tank.

What causes it is the organics in the tap water itself. As soon as the tap water is added to the tank, bacteria will appear to consume the organics. You would be perhaps surprised at the high level of organics in tap water. Sometimes you don't see this because the chlorine/chloramine prevents the bacteria from colonizing, but if you dechlorinate, or once the chlorine dissipates (in 24 hours), the bacteria have open access and will suddenly appear. It is harmless to fish and the cycling.

The type of bacteria we are talking about here are heterotrophic and reproduce very fast. Each bacterium can multiply by binary division within 15 to 60 minutes, so you can imagine how fast this can occur. Heterotrophic bacteria cannot synthesize their own food, as can autotrophic bacteria, so they need organics.

For this type of cloudiness, water changes are not helpful, as they only bring in more organics. Best to just let is work through on its own.

On the cycling, if you intend having live plants you can skip "cycling" per say. I will explain if asked.

Byron.

Last edited by Byron; 10-24-2013 at 04:03 PM.

Byron Hosking, BMus, MA
Vancouver, BC, Canada

Something we all need to remember: The fish you've acquired was quite happy not being owned by you, minding its own business. If you’re going to take it under your wing then you’re responsible for it. Every aspect of its life is under your control, from water quality and temperature to swimming space. [Nathan Hill in PFK]

To the cloudiness question, yes, this is due to bacteria. Not from the algae wafer alone (those this does contribute), but just normal in any new tank.

What causes it is the organics in the tap water itself. As soon as the tap water is added to the tank, bacteria will appear to consume the organics. You would be perhaps surprised at the high level of organics in tap water. Sometimes you don't see this because the chlorine/chloramine prevents the bacteria from colonizing, but if you dechlorinate, or once the chlorine dissipates (in 24 hours), the bacteria have open access and will suddenly appear. It is harmless to fish and the cycling.

The type of bacteria we are talking about here are heterotrophic and reproduce very fast. Each bacterium can multiply by binary division within 15 to 60 minutes, so you can imagine how fast this can occur. Heterotrophic bacteria cannot synthesize their own food, as can autotrophic bacteria, so they need organics.

For this type of cloudiness, water changes are not helpful, as they only bring in more organics. Best to just let is work through on its own.

On the cycling, if you intend having live plants you can skip "cycling" per say. I will explain if asked.

Byron.

Thank you so much for the information.

The cloudy-ness has already cleared up almost completely. That safe start I used really jump started the whole process combined with the stuff I vacuumed out of my other tank. Waiting a few days to make sure everything stays stabilized before I add any fish, but water tests and otherwise are so far so good! I also do have live plants in the aquarium.

The cloudy-ness has already cleared up almost completely. That safe start I used really jump started the whole process combined with the stuff I vacuumed out of my other tank. Waiting a few days to make sure everything stays stabilized before I add any fish, but water tests and otherwise are so far so good! I also do have live plants in the aquarium.

Since you have live plants, you can forget about cycling. As long as some of the plants are reasonably fast growing, and floating plants are ideal here, you can introduce a few fish and all will be well. You just can't overload things.

How this works: Plants need nitrogen, and they prefer it as ammonium. The ammonia produced by fish respiration and the breakdown of waste will be grabbed by the plants and internally changed into ammonium. Plants can take up a considerable amount of ammonia/ammonium, especially the fast growers.

While this is occurring, some of the ammonia will still get taken up by bacteria which will colonize nonetheless, only less and more slowly. The upside of all this is that the plants take up the ammonia and do not produce nitrite (or nitrate). The bacteria will still do all this, but so little that you cannot even detect the ammonia or nitrite with our test kits. Nitrate will appear, usually, at some point, proving that this did happen, but it will be very low and sometimes not at all. The fish load and feeding has an impact on this too.

The bacterial supplement you used (SafeStart) is fine, it will not do any harm to all this. And by the way, that is one of the best of the bacterial supplements; it is Dr. Hovanec's original formula which Tetra bought a few years back and now market as SafeStart.

Byron.

Last edited by Byron; 10-24-2013 at 11:36 PM.

Byron Hosking, BMus, MA
Vancouver, BC, Canada

Something we all need to remember: The fish you've acquired was quite happy not being owned by you, minding its own business. If you’re going to take it under your wing then you’re responsible for it. Every aspect of its life is under your control, from water quality and temperature to swimming space. [Nathan Hill in PFK]

Well, you can't really forget about cycling, but with the proper balance of plants and fish it does make the process much easier on the fish. As with any method of cycling a tank and introducing new livestock, you must monitor the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate until you are certain the tank is cycled. You can't just throw in a few plants and expect the tank to be fish ready. You need a good amount of plants, a bit of time for them to establish, then lightly stock the tank. This is a proven method and if you prefer to go this route, I suggest you read about the Walstad method before attempting it. It isn't difficult, but it takes more than a short post here to fully understand it.

When I go fishing I just place a sharp rock in the water and sit there waiting for all the dead fish to float to the top... KingfisherBrutal honesty will be shown on this screen.I think my fish is adjusting well to the four gallon, He's laying on his side attempting to go to sleep on the bottom of the gravel.Tolerance is a great thing to have, so is the ability to shut up.I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you.